What are the 22 matches of 2022?

[SirFozzie]

As we get into the final two months of the year, I feel like it's time to start talking about the matches of the year. Not necessarily the BEST matches (although usually one correlates to the other), but the matches that when you say "2022" these are the matches that will come to mind.

 

I'll prime the pump with two AEW matches.

 

CM Punk vs MJF -Dog Collar Match

We wondered when CM Punk was going to get past the "I'm just happy to be here" phase of his time in AEW, and we wanted... something memorable long term.  I think many of us had a feeling that it wouldn't last, that it couldn't last.. and sadly events proved us right, but the build up to this match was so so great. Punk did the worst thing you can do to someone like MJF. He treated him like he was insignificant. Just another wrestler. This inspired MJF to be increasingly dastardly, and the feud just continued to escalate and escalate and.. well you get the point. By the time we get to this point, a lot of people were calling for the angle to end, because, well, what else could they DO to each other that would top what's already been done. MJF is at his best when he doesn't need to go to the cheap heat. He works the best when the wars are intensely personal, and it's not "What can I say to mock my opponent", instead it's "How can I express how much I really really want to hurt my opponent" Punk called for this chain match with a perfect promo. A lot of the time, fans will pop for the catchphrase, so they find ways to shoehorn it in, even when it doesn't fit. A promo that can pop without the catchphrase is rare, and this had the fans popping like mad despite running nearly 10 minutes. (I loved the "Be My (Greg) Valentine" reference and the fact that he referenced that a dog collar match is inherently brutal)

 

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Spoiler

 

MJF's mindgames led to a brutal attack that led to a crazy-ass old school promo from a completely blood soaked (and I'm talking Memphis style 0.7 Muta at a guess) CM Punk.
 

Spoiler

 

Then we get to the match itself. It's a match that couldn't be done to its best anywhere in the US except AEW.

 

Just a blood soaked WAR, with old-school callbacks in CM Punk's gear and entrance music, etcetera. This wast more about the P-A-I-N than the 1-2-3. Even MJF's usual shenanigans couldn't change the result, because there was literally nowhere to go with Punk on the other end of the chain. We won't see something like this often, so we enjoyed it while we can, and we even got the double feel good moment of MJF's trick-of-last-resort, Wardlow, finally decided to pull the trigger on a long long awaited turn, and deliberately leaving the Dynamite Diamond Ring (are they going to run that for a third year, with someone else taking up the mantle if MJF goes face?) for CM Punk to use and triumphantly get the 1-2-3.

It was a magic moment.

It couldn't last forever.

It won't, with the further events of 2022 being a black mark on the AEW-Punk relationship

But it will last forever. It's going to be the go to reference of "Blood-Soaked War" for the 2020 s and beyond, probably. It will be referenced amongst a generation like old farts (like a lot of us here) will remember Piper-Valentine.

 

 

[SirFozzie]

"22 of 22" Match: Blood and Guts 2.

 

Good War Games/Blood and Guts matches are like your grandmother's chocolate chip Recipe. There are a lot of different ingredients, and if you're missing one or more, you're going to have to live with the consequences, because it's going to be at best forgettable, and quite possibly a god awful mess.

 

Oh, as a bonus to the recipe, you have the anticipation. And that's William Regal announcing the match. No, it wasn't "WARGAMES!" but the way he said "Blood and Guts" was just like your grandma announcing that she's making her famous cookies. It sets the mouth watering.

 

1) Heat. It has to be a hot feud. You don't throw a bunch of midcarders out there without any build and have it remembered (something that's happened too often with the wargames). The issues with the JAS vs the BCC were running hot into this (and really, still are four months later). So, you had the right oven temperature to cook in. Kingston wanting desperately to make Jericho quit and/or bleed

2) You need a mix of ingredients.

You need early heaters to set the pace of the match. Wheeler Yuta? Sammy Guevara? Matt Menard? Aneglo Parker? Yup. Heaters a-plenty. Yuta is the phenom of 2022. Menard and Parker are the epitome of "cocaine-fueled Shit-heels that you want to to see get stomped", that take it to the next level, because their reactions to getting stomped are so awesome (Remember the promo they cut after this match? I know, I know, overreliance on blood can be bad, but when AEW uses it properly, it sells the brutality of wrestling over the sports entertainment part of the biz.

Big Manly Men throwing Meaty Meat! (sorry Big E, I probably butchered that). Claudio and Jake Hager, former tag team partners elsewhere, just meeting in the center of the ring and throwing bombs at each other.

"Unscripted" Violence: Too often in these types of matches, it's "everyone lies around until it's time for the next big stunt spot", but this match had frequent uses of weapons (glass, bats, the cage, etcetera), and it never really had a lull... except before the end really to set up the huge-ish spot. More on that later. There was violence everywhere, and it wasn't just the typical "Faces heat up" then "Heels heat up". Just like a real fight, you might see Eddie Kingston hitting Menard with a kendo stick while Jericho is stabbing Moxley with broken glass (that Mox himself brought into the ring)

Danger! Yeah, it was a big spot lull, but it paid off when Kingston threw Sammy off the cage. Perfectly safe spot, but you saw it coming and EVERYONE was on their feet. Then it happened, and it got that "Uhh-wah!" reaction that Mick Foley talked about. Just a huge "holy shit moment" that paused the insanity for a few moments as everyone tried to wrap their minds around what just happened, at how far they were willing to go to hurt and maim each other. And it set up the finish where someone tried to save Jericho on top of the cage, got caught and tapped out.

3) The feel good moment. It didn't give Kingston what he wanted (He had Jericho in a submission hold at the time), but a win was a win. It had the closing image of the BCC on top of the cage celebrating.

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by SirFozzie

[SirFozzie]

And finally from me before I let other folks have a go.

 

Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins (Hell in a Cell)

The match, by itself, was good to great. Cody and Seth had a pretty good feud, and HiaC looked to be a natural conclusion to their feud. Then Cody suffered a gruesome pec injury, and you wondered if they should just call an audible and end the feud and let Cody go heal. Instead, they worked it into the match, with Rollins targeting an outmatched Rhodes and just beating him nine ways from sunday (made even more gruesome by the purple skin of Rhodes from the torn pec.) Say what you will about the Codyverse especially in AEW, but when appropriately focused with a story to tell, he will lean into it 5000% percent and do the little things that will make the match bigger, despite the pain and suffering it puts him through. The whole match was WWE's paen to old-school injured face working from underneath and winning, while the heel still looks monster strong (and they followed that up with Rollins officially putting Rhodes out for months on the RAW afterwards. Cody gets shit on for a lot of what he does, but in this case, they did everything just about perfectly.

[twiztor]

for me, Thunder Rosa besting Britt Baker for the AEW Women's Title on the 3/16 Dynamite has been a highlight of the year. i know others will disagree, and her title reign led to a diminishing run, but that moment felt huge and had been built to for over a year.

Briscoes/FTR felt like a gigantic moment. either one, although i lean toward the first matchup.

i feel like something from Forbidden Door would make the list, just due to its unprecedented nature. Glancing over the card, i don't know which match stands out the most. Someone more versed in NJPW is better suited than i to make that distinction.

[John E. Dynamite]

Gonna shout out the less obvious ones - I don't hear anything on this board about Kazusada Higuchi's run as champ in DDT. His match with Konosuke Takeshita is better than anything else Konosuke did this year, full stop. Other ones include Zack Sabre Jr.'s New Japan Cup run (vs. Ospreay & Shingo), that insane three-match run Yuma Aoyagi had, and the ripped-mask blood-on-my-daughter psychofest of El Desperado vs. Jun Kasai.

For some reason the first match from Mexico that comes to mind is that El Soberano vs. Templario match from July (https://youtu.be/R608BINixFE?t=3683). Definitely a little more bang-bang spotfest than I prefer but it represents a new generation that's just about to boil over, plus there's good vibes anytime the cagematch.net kiddies give a CMLL match credit. After that it's the big mask matches. Atlantis Jr. vs. Stuka Jr, Villano IV vs. Penta, Reyna Isis vs. La Jarochita. Also gotta give Villano IV vs. Psycho Clown a mention.

Top three non-gimmick matches in AEW are Kingston/Jericho, StrickLee/Acclaimed, & Moxley/Yuta. Anarchy in the Arena was genius. But I like what I like.

[The Natural]

GUNTHER vs. Sheamus, WWE Clash at the Castle. Looked forward to this match when it was announced and it delivered my MOTY. I was into this match more than other this year wincing at the stiffness. Great seeing a WWE show at a suitable time for the UK while scoffing a Desi Keema Saagh curry from Shimla Spice. *****.

[The Natural]

My top 22 for 22:

22. Jon Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta. AEW Rampage, 8th April.

21. Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins. WWE WrestleMania Backlash, 8th May.

20. Roman Reigns/Sami Zayn/Jimmy Uso/Jey Uso/Solo Sikoa vs. Sheamus/Butch/Ridge Holland/Kevin Owens/Drew McIntyre. WWE Survivor Series WarGames. 26th November.

19. Dax Harwood vs. Cash Wheeler. AEW Dynamite, 27th April.

18. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita. AEW Battle of the Belts III, 5th August.

17. Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida. AEW Rampage Holiday Blast, 21st December.

16. Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter. AEW Full Gear, 19th November.

15. GUNTHER vs. Ricochet. WWE Smackdown, 16th December.

14. Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins. WWE WrestleMania XXXVII Night 1, 2nd April.

13. Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch. WWE WrestleMania XXXVII Night 1, 2nd April.

12. Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Revolution, 6th March.

11. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler vs. Kyle Fletcher/Mark Davis. NJPW Royal Quest II, 1st October. *****.

10. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson. AEW Dynamite, 6th April. *****.

9.  Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii. NJPW Wrestling Dontaku, 1st May. *****.

8. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler vs. Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe. ROH Death Before Dishonour, 23rd July. *****.

7. Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler. ROH Final Battle, 10th December. *****.

6. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler vs. Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe. ROH Supercard of Honour, 1st April. *****.

5. CM Punk vs. MJF. AEW Revolution, 6th March. *****.

4. MJF vs. CM Punk. AEW Dynamite, 2nd February. *****.

3. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Dynamite, 6th January. *****.

2. Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins. WWE Hell in a Cell, 5th June. *****.

1. GUNTHER vs. Sheamus. WWE Clash at the Castle, 10th September. *****.

Edited December 27, 2022 by The Natural

[SirFozzie]

Thoughts to make up for the posts that somehow disappeared.

 

Ok. I'm probably going to get pilloried for this.. but could the Paul/Reigns Crown Jewel match be one of the 22 matches for 22?

 

I mean, some of it is pure shock that it turned out as well as it did, and it was a very.. meta experience in a way (including the "Hey, let me engage slow motion mode on my iPhone as I leap off the top rope to put Roman through the announcing table" gif that will endlessly be replayed.. but it was a hell of a spot, and the buzz around it makes me think it belongs at least in the Honorable mention list.

 

We definitely need at least one Takushita AEW match in there.. it's faded a bit because it's several months ago at this point but there was an almost weekly great match with Takushita (thinking of his match with Mox).

 

I'd want Swerve in His Glory vs Acclaimed in there, but not sure which match and really both matches have a little something against them to possibly keep them from being on the list (Match 1- The wrong team winning, Match 2- The weird finish with Daddy Ass)

 

The problem with Anarchy in the Arena is that they did it better with Blood and Guts.

 

edit: For spectacle, I know Pentagon/Villano IV probably needs to be in the discussion, but I'm not sure the match itself has the technical chops to reach the rarified heights.

Edited November 7, 2022 by SirFozzie

[DEAN]

I will list the winners of my weekly free TV match of the week poll because I have such gigantic recency bias that it would just be the last 22 matches I watched.

Red Velvet vs Kris Statlander

Rey Fenix vs Andrade El Idolo- RAMPAGE

Konosuke Takeshita vs Eddie Kingston- AEW RAMPAGE

Blood and Guts

Konosuke Takeshita vs Jon Moxley- DYNAMITE

Darby Allin vs Brodie King- AEW DYNAMITE

Jon Moxley vs Rush- DYNAMITE

Toni Storm/Thunder Rosa vs Britt Baker/ Jamie Hayter- DYNAMITE

Konosuke Takeshita vs Claudio Castagnoli- Battle For the Belts III

Bryan Danielson vs Daniel Garcia- 2/3 falls- DYNAMITE

United Empire vs Death Triangle- DYNAMITE

Deonna Perrozzo vs Masha Slamovich- IMPACT!

Eddie Kingston vs Tomohiro Ishii- ZERO HOUR

Chris Jericho vs Bryan Danielson- DYNAMITE

Jungle Boy vs Rey Fenix- RAMPAGE

El Bandido vs Chris Jericho- DYNAMITE

Sheamus vs GUNTHER- SMACKDOWN

PAC vs Orange Cassidy- DYNAMITE

Dalton Castle vs Chris Jericho- DYNAMITE

Shane Swerve Strickland/ Keith Lee vs Dax Harwood/ Cash Wheeler- DYNAMITE

And the added two to make 22 is FTR vs the Briscoes and FTR vs Aussie Open.

[SirFozzie]

10 minutes ago, DEAN said:

Konosuke Takeshita vs Jon Moxley- DYNAMITE

 

Darby Allin vs Brodie King- AEW DYNAMITE

Toni Storm/Thunder Rosa vs Britt Baker/ Jamie Hayter- DYNAMITE

Konosuke Takeshita vs Claudio Castagnoli- Battle For the Belts III

Bryan Danielson vs Daniel Garcia- 2/3 falls- DYNAMITE

United Empire vs Death Triangle- DYNAMITE

PAC vs Orange Cassidy- DYNAMITE

Shane Swerve Strickland/ Keith Lee vs Dax Harwood/ Cash Wheeler- DYNAMITE

Forgot about some of these. Darby Allin has had a year to remember (although it's helped by middle-aged and goddamn INSANE Sting and his willingness to do things like balcony dive).

PAC vs Orange Cassidy was another one of those if you didn't know the backstory you'd say "Wait, that was a pretty good match, but not one of the 22 for 22?". When you consider the backstory and the picture perfect moments set up by previous matches, it definitely belongs there.